"Aslan is nearer"
Narnia, Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-10
Advent 3A, December 16, 2007
A Sermon by Fr. James Haney V
This third Sunday of Advent brings us to part 3 of our 4 part look at C.S. Lewis's classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Two weeks ago, we were introduced to four siblings who began various journeys to the land of Narnia. It was a cold bleak land under the rule of the evil White Witch. It was a land where it was always winter and never Christmas. On one of the trips, brother Edmund met up with the White Witch herself. Edmund was seduced by her promise of a steady stream of enchanted Turkish Delight candy. C.S. Lewis used the image of Turkish Delight as a stand in for all of our addictions, all of our sins, all of the things in our lives that can trip us up.
Last week, we saw all four of the children visit Narnia together. There they met a pair of talking beavers who told them of Aslan, the great lion, the great Christ figure in the story. C.S. Lewis used Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's words about Aslan to tell us about Jesus, and how our ideas of Jesus and God are often too small, too narrow. At the end of that section, they discovered that Edmund has slipped out to betray them all to the White Witch.
In the third section, our section today, the story line seems simple. The action is basically three siblings and two beavers fleeing from pursuit by the White Witch. The beavers are trying to get the children to Aslan before the Witch catches up with them. On the way, they meet Father Christmas who gives the children gifts. Eventually, they do reach Aslan's camp, and the children meet Aslan for the first time.
At one level, that seems like rather simple story telling. And yet, underneath the plot are woven four wonderful Advent themes. So I'd like to look at each of those four themes in turn.
First, is the theme of waiting. I don't know if you noticed, but almost 2/3rds of the book is over before you meet Aslan for the first time. Plus, the land of Narnia has waited 100 years for Aslan to return and for winter to end. There's a lot of build up, a lot of waiting in this story.
Now, I don't know about you, but I often have a tough time with waiting for God. Heck, I have enough problems waiting in line at the store. Real waiting is even worse.
We Americans tend to be rather impatient people. Tom Petty sang, "The waiting is the hardest part." How true that is. I think it’s especially difficult for us late twenty-first century Americans, for we live in a culture of instant gratification, of push button convenience, of cell phones and plastic money. Why wait, when you can have what you want now? Heck, as a culture, we've basically said, why wait until December 25 to celebrate Christmas? Let's start putting up decorations in October. Let's not wait for it.
Yet, the season of Advent comes as almost a cultural pause button. It tells us, 'Wait. Jesus is coming. Wait patiently for him.' In the words of our Epistle lesson from James, "Be patient… Be patient until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for (his crops)… You also must be patient." Not everything in life is supposed to come instantaneously. That's especially true of the spiritual life. God does not usually operate according to your time schedule. So be patient. Wait.
Which brings us to our second Advent theme. As we wait, we experience the tension between the already and the not yet. As Christians we live in a constant state of already and not yet. Jesus has already come among us. Preparing for the celebration of that first coming is what Advent's all about. Yet the Kingdom of God has not yet arrived in all of its fulness. Jesus hasn't returned yet. The spiritual forces of evil have not yet been eliminated. Thus Advent always has a twin focus of preparing for the celebration of Jesus' first coming while looking forward to his second coming.
We see this theme very strongly in the third section of the story. And it actually centers around two sleds.
The first sled belongs to Father Christmas. The fact that he can make an appearance in Narnia at all is a surprise. Narnia has been the land where it is always winter and never Christmas. The appearance of Father Christmas is an indication that the White Witch's power is declining.
That fact becomes even more apparent in the next chapter. We see the Witch's own sled grind to a halt because her snow has melted. Aslan's coming brings the thaw. The hold of the White Witch is already broken. And yet, she is not yet defeated. She still has a claim on Edmund, whose life belongs to her. She still has power in her magic wand. Already and not yet.
It's a paradox. Jesus' coming has already meant a defeat for the powers of darkness. And yet, for now they're still operative. We still have to struggle with them until there final defeat.
In our baptismal service, we ask candidates to renounce "Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God… (and all) the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God." Whether you view those forces literally or figuratively, we know they exist. You just have to look around you. There are dark and evil things that still happen in our world and in our lives. There are things that make us shake our heads and ask, "How can these things happen? How could someone do something like this?"
It's a paradox. The powers evil, and sin, and death have already been defeated by the cross of Jesus Christ. Yet we have to wait for the day when they will finally be defeated, when God's kingdom will finally come on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Someone once compared this paradox to the role of D-Day in WWII. After D-Day, after the Allies secured a firm beachhead on Normandy, Nazi Germany's days were numbered. And yet Germany did not immediately surrender in June of 1944. It took almost another year of fighting for the promise of D-Day to be realized in all of its fulness on VE day.
Thus we live in the world of already and not yet. Jesus' ultimate victory is assured. And yet we have to live in the midst of the struggle.
Which brings us to the third Advent theme: preparation. In this third section, the children are equipped for the struggle against the Witch. That preparation happens both outwardly and inwardly.
When Father Christmas brings gifts to the children he equips them for battle: sword, shield, bow, arrows, a horn to summon help, and healing ointment. The children are given what they'll need to stand toe to toe with the forces of evil.
And yet, even more wonderfully, there is inner equipping that takes place as well. We see this with the two brothers, Edmund and Peter.
Edmund realizes that he's been deceiving himself as well as the others. He realizes that the Turkish Delight is an empty promise, and that he's been on the wrong side by siding with the White Witch.
In chapter 11, C.S. Lewis writes,
"Oh, how miserable he was! It didn't look now as if the Witch intended to make him a King. All the things he had said to make himself believe that she was good and kind and that her side was really the right side sounded to him silly now. He would have given anything to meet the others at this moment--even Peter!"
And, it turns out, that Peter has reflected on how his own behavior might have contributed to the estrangement in his relationship with Edmund.
There's a wonderful moment when Peter and his sisters meet Aslan in chapter 12. Aslan asks where Edmund is. In C.S. Lewis's words:
"'But where is the fourth?' asked Aslan.
"'He has tried to betray them and joined the White Witch, O Aslan,' said Mr Beaver. And then something made Peter say,
"'That was partly my fault, Aslan. I was angry with him and I think that helped him to go wrong.'"
Peter and Edmund both recognize their own faults. They repent, they change. And those inner changes prepare and equip both Edmund and Peter to heal their relationship in the next chapter.
Which brings us to the fourth Advent theme: trusting God to fulfill his promises.
Last week, we heard the Narnian prophecy about Aslan:
Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
We see those words beginning to come to pass in the third section, though they won't be fully accomplished until the last section of the book. The important thing will be for all four of the children to trust in Aslan and to stick with him until until the prophecies are fulfilled.
Aslan even adds to the promises. He takes Peter to the top of the hill and shows him the castle where Peter will sit as king. Aslan gives Peter a vision of what is to come in his life. But it doesn't happen immediately. Peter will have to trust those promises until Aslan brings them to pass.
Of course, that's something we have to do as well. We hear wonderfully reassuring words like the ones from our OT lesson from the prophet Isaiah:
"'Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God…
He will come and save you.'
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy…
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
We hear promises like that throughout scripture. The question for us is, do we really believe such words? Do we really trust God's promises? Do we nod our heads and pay them lip service. Or do we really trust in them?
That's the great question of the Christian life.
In the midst of the struggles of life, do you really trust? As we wait, do you trust? As you exist in a state of already but not yet, do you trust? As you are being shaped and molded and fashioned and equipped as God's servants, do you trust him enough to put your lives into his hands?
God wants us to live in a relationship of trust. And God wants to equip us in that relationship.
God invites you to this altar rail to receive the gifts he gives us. In a few moments, as we do every third Sunday of the month, we will be offering the sacrament of Holy Unction. A little while later, we'll be offering the sacrament of Holy Communion. Those are God's gifts to his people.
Has your soul grown wintry, has your relationship with God grown cold? Let him warm you with his love.
Are you feeling broken, do you need healing and wholeness of body or mind, or spirit? Bring your brokenness to God and ask for his healing grace.
Do you feel beset and besieged? Is the darkness pressing in on you? Come to him, and let him fill you with his light.
Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God… He will come and save you.
Christmas is coming. Jesus is coming. Aslan is on the move.
The Rev. James P. Haney V
Good Shepherd, Wichita
December 16, 2007
